Broken Stems
by AwesomeFace91
Summary: May's heart is shattered. All she has left is a single wilting rose. The last one he ever gave her. Meanwhile, Drew tries to continue life with a cursed soul, forcing himself to stay away from her for her own protection. Contestshipping. May x Cursed!Drew. Mild language. Contains Pokeshipping and Penguinshipping.
1. Chapter 1

**I have a sad sad sad sad SAD soul. The title popped into my head one night, and this is where it led. So sorry. I don't own Pokemon, I just own my tortured mind. **

**Ages:**

**May- 17**

**Drew- 18 **

Drew's POV

My hands are shaking. I focus my energy and try to stop the trembling, but it's no use. My whole body is shaking. I take a deep breath and hold out the rose. The last rose, although she doesn't know it will be the last. Not yet. Her face, that adorable face I fell in love with, lights up. She grins, and throws her arms around my neck. This is how I know the curse is real. I know because I feel no warmth. She's smiling and saying something in that whiny but beautiful voice. Or at least, I used to think it was beautiful. Like I said, the curse is real and I can no longer hear the beauty in it or see the cuteness in her face. I flashback to the last day I loved her.

"_Can we be like this forever Drew? I've never been happier." I smile and stare into those beautiful blue eyes._

"_I'll love you always May. You are my everything." I pull her in for a kiss. Her mouth, against mine, is smiling._

I realize now how wrong I was. I probably would have loved her forever if I'd made different choices that day. But I made choices that only a fool would make. Clearly, I am a fool.

"May. I have to go." I say, the coldness in my voice surprising me.

"Why?" she giggles. "Come on Drew, let's catch a movie, or watch the sunset and fall asleep looking at the stars!" I look into her eyes. When she meets mine, her smile falters. "Drew?" I turn away.

"For your own safety, I must leave." I begin to walk, but she grabs my arm.

"I know you Drew. And anyone who knows you knows they can't stop you if you get your mind set on something. So I won't try. But I'll miss you. So I have to ask. When will I see you again?"

"NEVER!" I spit out, so loud she lets go of my arm. "Never. I'm not coming back, and you… you will never see me again." I say. May stumbles back, a hand on her heart.

"Drew…" she begins, but before she can finish I walk away. It wasn't hard for me to end it. Because I have lost the ability to love her. Her tortured sobs don't even bother me.

May's POV

"Drew. Drew. Drew. Drew. Drew. Drew. Drew." I don't know how I managed to get home from that flowery hellhole of a hill. I don't know how I held it together long enough to stumble up the stairs to my room. I don't know how I ended up lying on the hard, cold, wooden floor in the fetal position. The only thing I know is that he left. He left and he's never coming back. I clutch the rose, squeezing the stem so hard that the thorns poke tiny hole in my skin. The blood stains the stem. I uncurl myself and lie on the floor, arms and legs out as though I'm going to make a snow angel.

"I'll love you forever Drew. You can leave with me a thousand times and I know I'll always come back. I love you, and I'm never going to let go of that." I stare at the peeling paint on the ceiling. White, giving way to a beige underside. After lying on the floor for what must have been hours, I decide I should probably do something. My limbs protest, but I sit up. My joints are stiff. The rose, still stained with my blood, is wilting. If there was anything left in me alive, it dies at the sight of the last rose, wilting. I stand, and walk to my desk. On it, there is a vase. A crystalline vase with a blue squiggle circling the neck. But what is in the vase is my goal. My desk is next to a window. I'm glad it's so windy. I pick up the vase and pull the roses out. A round 30. Placing the vase back on the desk, holding the last rose in one hand and the bunch in the other, I open the window and fling the bunch with all my might. It sails about 20 feet before dropping. As it falls, it's caught on an updraft and goes spiraling into the air. Buffeted this way and that, I watch as it flies into the blue. I shut the window with a snap and try not to think, not to feel.

I place the final rose, with its bloody stem, in the glass vase. I watch it, feeling like I'm fading into the blue along with the roses.

Drew's POV

I sit on a lonely playground swing, trying to force myself to be sad. Trying to force myself because it would mean that I was sorry to see her leave. It would mean that I still love her. The curse is made worse by the fact that I can remember loving her. I remember how I felt and how much she meant to me. I just can't feel it anymore. It's like I'm a big cake, and my feelings are all slices. Somebody ate the slice that allowed me to feel love. I can remember that it was there, and what it looked like. Now feeling the empty spot, all I get is a sour taste in my mouth. I remember the day the slice was cut from the cake.

"_This is it, Flygon. Do you think the legends are true?" I say as Flygon and I circle the blackened castle in the middle of the ocean._

"_Flyyyyyy!" Flygon agrees, and we land. The gravel crunches under my feet as we approach the front gates. Flygon cowers, and tries to hide behind me._

"_Flygon return." I say, zapping Flygon into its pokeball. I touch the crumbling wood of the main gate and, because it's so decrepit, it falls. I shield my head from debris as it rains down. When it's stopped falling, I lift my head up, coughing from the dust. _Well. _I think. _That was an adventure. _I struggle through the crumbling planks and into the castle. I wonder again why I had insisted that May didn't accompany me on this particular adventure. I'd feel braver if she was here with me. It's pitch black inside the castle. I can't even see my own hand in front of my face. If there were any windows, it wouldn't help. It's midnight outside, and there are no stars. I pull my flashlight out from my backpack. May said she added a few necessities and my hands bump something hard, sitting in the bottom next to my flashlight. I pull it out too, and see that it's a locket. _How cliche. _I think, but I open it anyway. Inside is a picture of her Beautifly on one side, and a rose on the other. My first attempt at emotional contact. My excuse and my gift. I squeeze it, and, feeling very un-masculine, slip it around my neck. When I click my flashlight on, what I see makes me scream like a little girl. Now I'm truly thankful I told May to stay behind. She's strong, but I'm stronger, and I nearly wet myself. A skull with ruby eyes that seem to burn into my soul. Is this it? I didn't expect it to be so disturbing. I slowly extend a hand and place it on the skull. it scalds me at the first touch and my hand jumps away. Now it's clear to me that something's wrong. I turn and try to run away, my quest forgotten. But light floods the room and I'm stopped by an invisible barrier. I pound on it, but I can't make a dent._

"_Leaving so soon?" asks a deep voice from the other side of the room. I spin on the spot, breathing hard and fast. A figure, in shadow despite the light filling the room. "Why, isn't this what you came for?" the skull floats off its pedestal. It floats towards me. An icy hand grabs me from behind. A cold and sharp fingernail slowly presses into the back of my neck. "Drew Hayden. I know all about you. Such is my power, I can know all your fears and desires simply by looking at you." I struggle, but another icy hand holds my hands behind my back. I cannot go anywhere._

"_What do you want with me?!" I yell at the darkness. The one shadow in a room full of light._

"_Payback. I've lived in this castle alone for thousands of years. It's about time I had a little fun." I close my eyes and grit my teeth. "Long have I held a grudge against the family name of Hayden. Your ancestors, boy, took what was most important to me from me. Now, I'll take what is most important to you." A light, pure and clean, floats out of my chest. The rest of the room darkens. Pitch black except for the one light. It explodes, like a firework waiting to be set off. The fragments fall and dissipate, leaving me with an empty feeling. The locket turns cold and starts to tremble. I'm released from the icy hands and I fall to the floor, breathing heavily. The room is pitch black again and it's as if nothing has changed._

I open my clasped hands and stare at the locket I'm holding. What interests me is the fact that I have not been able to open it since I lost my pure ability to feel love. The locket, _My locket. _I keep telling myself. But it can't be mine. I don't love her. No, I _can't _love her. Even though I wish I did.

**Woah. I had no idea I could write something this depressing. I know I said on my profile I'd do one story at a time, but you know… I wrote this and I guess I just thought that I should post it. Chapter two will be up sometime… I'm a slow writer. *Sweatdrops***


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay… this story is weird. I know that. But I have a messed up brain. Just because I'm writing this fanfic does not mean I'm abandoning the other one. I don't own Pokemon, or Twilight (Glad about that one), or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I'll give character ages as they come in to the story. In case you're wondering, Hallie and Una are characters that will probably be exclusive to this story. And they will probably pop up later in the story too. Warning! Twilight basing inbound!**

**Hallie- 17**

**Una- 17**

**Ash- 18**

**Misty- 19**

May's POV

Usually, when I'm here in Petalburg, I attend Petalburg-high. But I haven't left my room except to eat for three days. So it's not altogether a surprise when my friends Una and Hallie decide to make an appearance.

"May… Are you okay?" Hallie asks, coming over to the bed where I'm lying face first into a pillow.

"No." I say, muffled.

"I know what'll cheer you up." Una says, pulling a wrapped box out of her bag. I stay on my bed, motionless. "Oh come on May! It's a Twilight boxed set!" Una says impatiently. I mime gagging. Una knows my feelings on Twilight.

"Una, you realize that if Buffy met Edward, she'd kill him on the spot. No questions asked, and no stupid love affairs." Hallie says tiredly. The only reason they put up with each other is because they want to stay friends with me. "Jason too."

"Jacob!" Una hisses back. "And he's a werewolf, not a vampire." I sit up.

"Thanks girls, but I need to be alone. I'm okay. Really." Hallie looks into my eyes.

"You're not okay, May. I know it, Una knows it, and you know it. We're your friends. Tell us what happened!" Una nods vigorously. When I don't show any signs of reaction, Hallie hits me on the arm. "What would Buffy do?" she asks before getting up to leave.

"What would Bella do?" Una asks. Hallie smacks her on the back of the head.

"Lie there like a wuss and let her sparkly boyfriend do all the work!" At the mention of the word 'boyfriend', I burst into renewed sobbs and collapse back onto the bed. Hallie and Una are about to go, when Una sprints back into the room and leaves the Twilight boxed set on the bedside table. I hear a door slam downstairs. _What would Buffy do? _Buffy the Vampire slayer was the thing that drew Hallie and I together. Buffy was the ideal role model in our eyes. I stand up abruptly and my hither-to immobile body screams in protest. I look at my Buffy poster. Her eyes stare back at me, almost saying;

"Hey girl, you going to let this kill you? Is that what I would do?" I stare at her. No. That's not what she would do. And that's not what I'm going to do. I grab a bag. I run down the stairs, taking them two at a time.

Ash's POV

I was more than a little surprised when May showed up at my door in the middle of the night. But I accepted her in, and, per her request, called Misty. Misty high-tailed it to Pallet Town as fast as is humanly possible. Now Misty and I are sitting on a couch facing May, who's pouring out her heart.

"A-a-a-and then the asshole just LEFT! Like he didn't care!" Huge sobs rack her body and she bends over, putting her head between her legs. Misty awkwardly hands her a tissue. As I meet my girlfriends eyes, I know we're both as confused as it's possible to be.

"Oh." Misty finally says. "That's awful May." She reaches over and pats her shoulder. We sit there, shoulder to shoulder, waiting for May to finish her tortured sobbing.

"I know Drew. He loves you with everything he has. There must be a reason he left." I say cautiously.

"H-he said something about 'my own safety'!" May sniffs. Misty stands up.

"That settles it. There is a reason." She kneels beside May. "Think. What was the last time you were together? Uh, before the time he left." May hiccups herself into silence.

"W-we were on a dock a-at nightfall. H-he was pl-planning on riding F-Flygon out t-to the old castle." Misty puts a hand to her mouth, like she knows something. "I-i-it's been said that o-on that i-island, in that c-castle, there is a treasure beyond anyone's wildest d-dreams. We had b-been curious for a long time. I w-wanted to go with him, b-but he wanted me t-to stay home. An-and he flew away!"

Misty starts murmuring under her breath.

"Rejoice the wish power of Jirachi.

Hold dear the time control of Celebi.

Embrace the sea's magic of Manaphy.

Celebrate the true triumph of Victini.

Wrapped together, it can't go wrong,

if the treasured skull of the isle is where it belongs." When she's done, she looks up from her silent contemplation of her hands. May and I both stare at her.

"Explanation please." I say.

Drew's POV

She hadn't seen me as I perched in a tree, watching her leave her house and pull out Beautifly. She hadn't seen me as I followed her flight across the ocean to Kanto, riding on Flygon.

She hadn't seen me as I set up camp in a tree in Viridian forest.

I'm thankful for this. She'll probably murder me if she sees me again. I might not love her, but I know one thing. As long as I live, I'll protect her. She won't get hurt. I'll be there. Not seen, not heard. Because I don't hate her. But I can't love her. All I know is that it hurt her when I left, but it would hurt her more if I stayed. I can still hear that deep voice, echoing menacingly through the darkened castle.

"_Ah… Yes Hayden. Feel the pain. How is it?" Even though everything seems normal, the voice still fills the room. _

"_What-" I say, stumbling to my feet._

"_I removed what's most important Drew. Your ability to love. With this skull, I'm unstoppable!"_

"_Y-you can't remove my ability to love, that's impossible!"_

"_Don't believe me? You'll see next time you see that little girlfriend of yours." I move towards the exit. This is absurd. Nothing in the world can make me stop loving May. "And another thing. If you insist on standing by her, sticking with her despite your inability to love, it will slowly overcome your body, until she can't bear the sight of you. Until she is humiliated publicly for being on your arm. Until her eyes bleed at the sight of you, and her heart bleeds when she says goodbye. The worst part is, none of this will bother you. You will not care as she cries. You will not bother looking sad when she says goodbye, because you can't love her." I shake my head._

"_STOP!" I fall to my knees. "Stop. You can't make me stop loving May. We said forever! I said forever. If I say something, I mean it." _

"_Even things like; 'It's for Beautifly.' ?" My stomach is churning._

"_How did you know-"_

"_I told you. I know EVERYTHING about you. So if you still love her, how about you open that locket?" _

I couldn't. I tried. I wrenched it. I yanked it. I pried it with my teeth. I remember thinking that they must have put some kind of spell on the locket. But they hadn't. A girl with orange hair sprints underneath my tree. She's heading to Pallet Town. She's winded and I watch her, completely still, until her figure fades into the distance. Then I jump from my tree. Even if I can't love life, because I can't love anything, I still have a will to live, and people who want to live need to eat.

Misty's POV

Ash and May look at me expectantly and I start to sweat. I hadn't meant to say it out loud and I don't want to tell them about that. It was all too painful.

"Misty?" Ash asks uncertainly. I look at May, who looks like she's trying to refrain herself from something. Then her restraint snaps.

"ARCEUSDAMMIT WOMAN! IF YOU KNOW ANYTHING, SPIT IT OUT! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD THIS IS FOR ME? TAKE WHAT YOU FEEL RIGHT NOW. MULTIPLY IT 3000 TIMES. FEEL THAT? THAT'S NOWHERE CLOSE TO HOW I FEEL!" May yells, leaping forward and grabbing me by the collar. She shakes me frantically, tears streaming from her eyes, which are alive with maniacal anger. I shove her off of me, panting.

"Okay! OKAY!" I yell. I'm shuddering. I don't want to tell them about that. About the thing that has plagued my nightmares for a decade and a half. I take a deep breath.

"Okay. Yes. I know an awful lot about the skull of the isle." May sits back down, looking ready for a story. "You probably don't know this, because this was before they were famous, there used to be four sensational sisters." I get choked up here. "My sisters were quadruplets."

**Okay, sorry for cliffhanger. I'm so tired, and have such bad writer's block. I'm not giving excuses, I'm giving reasons. (A fancy word for excuses)**


	3. Chapter 3

**Heyyy! I wrote more deppressing stuff!**

**Still don't own Pokemon.**

Still Misty's POV

"You probably don't know this, because this was before they were famous, there used to be four sensational sisters." I get choked up here. "My sisters were quadruplets."

"Were?" Ash asks. May shushes him.

"Yes, were. Her name was Rose. She was born far more intelectual than the others. I was only four when she left, but my sisters have filled in the gaps I can't remember. They say she had an unhealthy obsession with all things supernatural. She'd sing that old legend to me as a lullaby. The one that I said earlier. It had used to bother me that it didn't rhyme. But later I learned. It was never supposed to." I realize there's a steady stream of tears down my face. But I soldier on through. I started telling the story, and I can't stop.

"My sisters tell me that close to the day she left, she spent more and more time in her room, building up a survival kit of sorts. Then, she just left. One day, before I was awake, my sisters said goodbye. And I didn't get to say goodbye." My voice keeps flying up octaves. This is such a painful topic. I take a deep breath and try to calm myself.

"She never came back. We waited for a week. Then Daisy decided that she'd had enough. She did a quick investigation in Rose's books and research and traced her to Hidden Isle in the Hoenn region. Well, naturally, we set off. We cared about Rose immensly. There was a big castle. I was terrified. I remember holding Daisy's hand as we walked in." I realize that I'm clutching Ash's hand like a lifeline. I loosen my grip and give him an apologetic glance. But he squeezes my hand again and nodds. I smile through the teartracks on my face.

"It was Dark. Very dark. Violet took the first step, but when she saw that none of us had moved, she quickly fell back in line. We stayed in line all the way in. Then I stepped on something soft in the dark. I squealed. Very very very loudly. Then a light flared up. We could suddenly see everything. A skull was hovering in front of us. I hid behind Daisy, but then she hid behind me. My sisters never were all that brave or bright. So I was at the front. A four-year-old protecting three ten-year-olds. I glanced down, and saw… Saw…" I get choked up. I can't finish. I can't do it. I can't do it!

"You don't have to continue," Ash says gently. But I shake my head. I do have to continue.

"I saw Rose's dead body." May gasps. Ash looks sick, but I plunge ahead. I have to finish this. "The skull's eyes glowed and it started to speak. 'You have come for your sister I presume? Take her. I have drawn all the energy I need.' I remember stepping forward. 'What do you want with us?' I yelled." As I talk, it seems like I'm back there. I can still smell the musty scent of a long-neglected palace, still hear the voice echoing in my head, still feel my sister's cold hand underneath my foot. May's eyes are filling with tears. I look away, ashamed that I've made her cry.

"Sum it up Misty. You don't have to finish the story." I nod, and take a deep breath.

"The skull is possesed by a Pokemon. I don't know what, don't ask me. It requires energy to be sustained. So it gains the power, once a month, to remove what is most important, make it unnatainable. For Rose, that was her inteligence. And it's impossible to live without brains." I turn to May and look her in the eyes, blue. The same color Rose's had been. That didn't help. "I think that's what happened. I think Drew has lost his love for you, the most important thing to him."

**How awful was it? Be honest. I hate how short it is, I am not a fast writer, and I don't want to go into what I have planned next until at least chapter 4. Sry.**


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